the birthday post.

I'm 36! :)

Gliding into this age loved and grateful and humbled. It's a great day to be alive.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Woot!

P/S: Still think I'm 30. ;)

I've had questions without answers
I've known sorrow, I have known pain
But there's one thing that I cling to
You are faithful, Jesus You're true

When hope is lost, I call You Saviour
When pain surrounds, I call You Healer
When silence falls
You'll be the song within my heart

In the lone hour of my sorrow
Through the darkest night of my soul
You surround me, and sustain me
My defender for ever more

And I will praise You, I will praise You
When the tears fall still I will sing to You
I will praise You, Jesus praise You
Through the suffering still I will sing to You

When the laughter fails to comfort
When my heart aches, Lord are You be there
When confusion is all around me
And the darkness is my closest friend
Still I'll praise You, Jesus praise You

Tim Hughes :: When The Tears Fall

birthday shoutout to my dawg Chongy

And because I'm not in a creative state of mind, I'm copy pasting my FB for you greetings here; I still mean every word from the bottom of my heart. *wink wink*

Happy birthday, Sherylee! Looking forward to another wonderful year of meaningful conversations, iron-sharpening-iron sessions and frivolous fangirling with you. May next year be your best yet! Xoxo.

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship. :: Ralph Waldo Emerson

this takes the cake!

I've been coming to Miri so often these past few months that I'm calling it my second home, and even the hotel people have begun to call me by name (like I was some kinda VIP =).

So anyway, just now when I got back to my room, there was a knock on my door, and when I got to it.. the guy from the front desk who usu checks me in (I really should get his name tmrw) was standing there with Irene, a chef from the coffee house, who was holding a birthday cake and they started singing Happy Birthday to me! And I was floored, like O_O Hahaha.. I thanked them profusely of course. It was a really sweet gesture, I was so touched! They really didn't have to, especially when it wasn't like I'm a paying customer (my company foots the bill).. Anyway, I've written them a nice thank-you note in the customer feedback form.

So for the second time this birthday, I was taken totally by surprise. So much for wanting to escape the birthday limelight! =) I mean, I would have been more than okay if none of these happened, but I'm so grateful for the kindness of others, on top of the sweetest and most heartfelt messages I got from my closest friends and siblings over FB, Whatsapp, Wechat and Weibo (viva social media!). I'm blessed beyond measure! :)

You can't really see it here, but my face color matched my shirt's. And that small cake fed 42 people (it was the only one left at the shop when my colleague was asked last minute by my boss to get a cake) - quite close to a miracle eh? :) My boss definitely earned a tonne of brownie points from me for this! :)

Shared the cake and the story with my colleagues from KL who also happen to be in Miri. Thanks, Everly Parkcity! :)

30 again.

So today I turn 35. Touching the point of middle life (yeah, I'd like to go home at 70 =), crossing the border to the other side of life (whatever that meant). Honestly, I still feel like I'm the same as I was in 2008. It's a good thing right? =)

At this point, I just want to say how grateful I am at life and all the blessings I've received. I am certain I don't deserve any of it, but the grace of God upon my life is so much more than my mind could ever come up with. I thank God for my awesome parents, awesome siblings, awesome husband, awesome friends... all who love me in spite of who I am. I know I can be quite a handful and difficult to understand and just completely lost in my own world sometimes, so thanks for bearing with me. I LOVE YOU GUYS. *sob sob*

Btw I came across this answer below on Quora, and it changed my perspective of time. I don't know what the next 35 years will bring, but I want it to be good and I want it to mean something and I want it to matter and I don't want it to be just about me.. So, what's in store? I don't know and I'm nervous but I leave it to God's hand.. Jesus, guide my way as I go on living one day at a time yo!

Btw I'm Miri this week, and I thought I had escaped to a low-key birthday, but I was surprised by a cake from my boss at dinner just now and had the birthday song sung to me by 30 of my colleagues whom I don't know (plus 11 whom I do), so I was really horrified but touched at the same time hehe.

41!

thirty-three she is.

Took this from my birthday wish to myself two years ago. And now it's your turn. *blink blink*

Happy birthday, sis! Forever 25 you be! :)

And just as I had wished then, I wish today too that you find what your heart is looking for. Muaks!

happy four-oh, hubby dearie!

I can't think of a better song to celebrate our love. :D Every couple has a story, and this is pretty close to who we are.

Dear God, thank you for the life and love that is my husband's. On this special day, I pray your blessings over the life of my hubby, and that you would use him mightily in the ministry, to share knowledge and truth of your word, and to impart his life saved by grace. Grant him the desires of his heart, and make it grow bigger for you. Fill it with love and joy and hope and peace found only in You. May his faith in you continues to strengthen as he entrusts his life into your hand. I also pray for safety on the road as he travels daily on his bike, and also wherever he jets off too. Thank you for everything you have blessed us with, and we are eternally grateful. In Jesus' name I pray -- amen! :)

my favorite Leehom tracks. why? because... HAPPY BURFDAY MUSIC MAN! :)

this started off as a top 10 list, then 15, and it still wasn't easy for me to stop at 20.. but I had to or this post might as well be a mini novel. but 20 songs in a post a kinda an overkill, so i'll break it into a few posts (however many I could muster each time)(also because i wanna write grandmother stories about each one haha). so in random order, here are my favorite Leehom tracks..

oh but before I start, I just wanna give a shout-out to him:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEEHOM!!!!

it felt like I had just wished you hbd. but here we are, another trip around the sun later.. w00t!

anyway, I adapted my concert card for LH to make him this birthday card, a physical copy of which is supposedly on its way to him (if the fan club wasn't pulling my legs).. so exciting! thanks to D for rallying the few of us together to do this! ^_^

soooooo, here they are.. the first two of twenty (I'd actually wanted to do more here, but I've been really busy with work (that's a good thing! :) and my diploma class (meh.).. and again, those numbers beside the song title are random (just so we'll know when I reach #20), not ranking!

#1 龍的傳人 Descendants of the Dragon

what's special to me about this song was that I actually remember watching a live performance of this song on TV some 13 years ago in 2000 when it first came out, and I remember thinking that, wow, this version is awesome! (I'm kinda a sucker for contemporary remixes of anything old :).. I already knew of him then, but too bad that while i enjoyed the fresh twist, I didn't give him any more thought hehe.. mm, around that time, the only Chinese singer I was into then was David Tao.. :)

I really want to tell you more about the song, because this is not just any other old patriotic Chinese song. if you go through its lyrics, you would probably see as I did see why it appeals deeply to the Chinese, in particular first and second generations of the Chinese diaspora who must have missed home (theirs or those of their ancestors) like crazy back in those Internet-less days---case in point, my parents (who definitely had something to do with me knowing the original version of the song)(and Leehom of course). anyway, I have never really relate to this song, maybe because I identify more as a Malaysian (srsly, if I ever hear another pendatang comment... grr! nevertheless, I found this for you:

Notes: [...] The verse in the original version about cannon fire breaking through a tranquil night refers to the Opium Wars. China’s defeat in the two conflicts (1839-42 and 1858-1860) led to the “unequal treaties,” which not only opened treaty ports and carved up part of the Chinese coastline with foreign concessions, but were also instrumental in opening the country to western contact and legalizing Chinese emigration. The treaties were often referred to as a “national humiliation.”

This song was written by Taiwan singer/songwriter Hou Dejian (候德建) in December of 1978, in response to the American decision to break off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and establish relations with the People's Republic of China. Though it gained popularity as a patriotic song, in fact, Hou’s metaphor of growing up “under the claw of the dragon” demonstrates a certain amount of ambivalence toward China. As scholar Geremie R. Barme has noted, "'Heirs' [the song is also known as Heirs of the Dragon, hence, Heirs] had originally been written after the U.S. abandonment of the Republic of China in 1978 to express profound frustration with the traditions that the song appeared, at least superficially, to romanticize."

"Heirs" was first recorded by singer Li Jianfu (李建復), and it quickly spread across Taiwan as a nationalistic anthem. A Cantonese version was recorded by Hong Kong patriotic singer Zhang Mingmin (張明敏). In 2000, Chinese American Leehom Wang (王力宏) recorded his version, adding an English-language rap and changing the last verse to reference the experience of Taiwanese immigrants in the United States instead of the Opium Wars. Li Jianfu is Leehom's second cousin (表叔), and the one responsible for getting Leehom involved in the Taiwanese music industry.

In 1983, Hou Dejian violated Guomindang travel restrictions and traveled to mainland China. “Heirs of the Dragon” became wildly popular in China, where it was embraced as an expression of Chinese nationalism and the importance of reunification. Hou’s recording career continued on the mainland, and he met up with many of the illustrious figures of 1980s Chinese music. In the spring of 1989, “Heirs of the Dragon” was adopted alongside songs like “The Internationale (國際歌)” and Cui Jian’s “Nothing to my name (一無所有)” by the student democracy movement in Tiananmen Square. Hou became deeply involved in the movement, and he helped lead a hunger strike in the Square beginning June 2. Because of his actions, he was deported from China back to Taiwan in 1990.

In May, 1989, at a concert in Hong Kong to support the students in Beijing, Hou made two changes to the lyrics. In the line "surrounded on all sides by the appeasers' swords," he replaced "appeasers" with "dictators" (四面楚歌是獨裁的劍). The second change was even more profound. During the course of his years on the mainland, Hou had met many individuals (including the student leader in Beijing) who were Chinese nationals, but ethnic minorities. In other words, he learned that not all of the Chinese people had "black hair, black eyes, yellow skin." He changed that line to, "Whether you are willing or not, forever and ever an heir of the dragon" (不管你自己願不願意，永永遠遠是龍的傳人). The change reflects the ambivalence in the song's original message, though the version later recorded by Leehom Wang is far more uncritically nationalistic and reverts to the original "black hair, black eyes, yellow skin" line.

Over the years, the song fell out of favor with those advocating for independence for Taiwan, but continues to hold strong pull as a patriotic song in China (none of the popular songs sung at the protests seem to have had their popularity damaged by association). Scholars have suggested that “Heirs of the Dragon,” with its illustration of the how ethnic ties can overcome geographic distance, has also been embraced by Chinese communities overseas, though the song’s popularity surges and retreats. In recent years, it has experienced a resurgence in interest as a result of Leehom's introduction of his rock/pop version and its status as a standard at his concerts.

[via One Day in May]

#2 花田錯 Mistake in the Flower Field

As I've mentioned, this is my all-time favorite LH song. I love everything about it, the poetic lines with obscure (to me) Chinese literature references, the infusion of Chinese musical instrument (the erhu), the melody.. so Chinese, and yet, so..... I don't know how to describe it leh, so I'll let none other than the b'day boy himself explain it (excerpt from a 2008 interview by acclaimed writer Tash Aw):

Tash: You used this (the incorporation of sounds from the music and songs of ethnic minorities into contemporary music in trying to change the way we approach the contemporary form) to stunning effect, I think, in your 2005 album Heroes of the Earth. I remember being completely blown away the first time I heard Hua Tian Cuo (translated roughly – and unsatisfactorily – as Mistake in the Flower Field). To me, it seems to capture the spirit of East Asian pop culture today.

It was so musically innovative – the erhu (Chinese two-string violin) was totally unexpected, as was the vocal line making reference to Beijing opera. It’s really not what you’d expect in a Chinese pop song. It’s a breath of fresh air – even today. Did you set out to be consciously innovative with that album?

Leehom: Very much so. It’s interesting that you picked up on the vocal line, because there’s a lot of melisma (the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession, as heard in plainsong or the blues) in that song.

I wanted that melismatic line to refer to traditional Beijing opera and kunqu (traditional Chinese theatre) because language is something that’s really important to me. I like to explore the potential of the Chinese language, to see how it can offer a more satisfying experience than English.

With Hua Tian Cuo I asked to study with some of the greatest Beijing opera singers to study their technique, but these guys don’t teach in the formal Western sense. They just imitate their teachers at first, then develop their own style.

It’s very hard training, because it isn’t structured, and by the age of 50 their voices are gone! There’s a lot of pain involved, physical and emotional.

[via]

okay i gtg sleep dy. don't wanna be zombie in class again. tas!

to J, who knows me and loves me just the same. well, what can i say but.. right back atcha! :)

thirty four.

The blogging muse is on her year-end holiday, an explanation as feeble as any for the lack of update here. This must be my blog's driest month this year! Anyway, with the 4th anniversary of my 30th birthday looming in the horizon (at the point of my writing this, it's just 4 days away), I thought I should put my fingers to keyboard and write something here. But what, I asked. And there was silence, naturally.

Aha, why don't you revive that 100-things-about-me meme? A voice suggested. But I don't have that many interesting things to warrant a list of 50, let alone 100! I replied to no one in particular. Mm maybe I could just do 34? I thought to myself, and then thought that was rather clever. Indeed.

So, here are 34 things about me that are not in anyway mysterious or groundbreaking as I would have in one way or another spoken about them. But a list's a list, so here goes nothing.

1. I'm very sure I have a mild *cough* form of ADD, which according to wiki, is characterized primarily by inattention, easy distractibility, disorganization, procrastination, and forgetfulness.
2. I hate writing. When I say this out loud, I usually receive polite protest that I could write, but I think people just want to make me feel better. Oh but you have a blog! I don't think that means much but I appreciate the affirmation though. :) 
3. I enjoy reading, but these days, most of my reading are Internet articles. I kinda dislike this fact.
4. I'm often lost in my own world.. like Alice. Ok, my world is not that rich. I like to hold imaginary conversations with people. Aloud. Which can be embarrassing. 
5. According to Myer-Briggs, I am a Nurturer (ISFJ). I sure didn't see that coming but the description is pretty accurate. And it helps me understand myself a bit more. Like how I've always wondered why I didn't do well in varsity, and even in my on-off studies at the bible college, until I read this (so it's really not my fault *ahem):

ISFJs learn best by doing, rather than by reading about something in a book, or applying theory. For this reason, they are not likely to be found in fields which require a lot of conceptual analysis or theory. They value practical application. Traditional methods of higher education, which require a lot of theorizing and abstraction, are likely to be a chore for the ISFJ.

6. According to the same test, I'm an introvert (though I didn't need it to tell me). People are often surprised that I am. In turn, I'm surprised that they are surprised. I can also be very shy. And I've been told they are not the same thing. I'm shy and gregarious.
7. I am absolutely terrified of syringes and snakes.
8. I love Calvin and Hobbes.
9. I enjoy sitcoms. I think life has enough drama that my escape shouldn't be more drama. My current favorites (and in this order) are Community, How I Met Your Mother, and Modern Family. 
10. I don't watch horror movies. I get startled very easily. I watch scary scenes through the gap between my fingers with my palms over my eyes. I don't want to watch an entire movie like that. I don't watch much drama movies/TV either (the slow pace is very distracting).
11. I like detective stories. Agatha Christie is my all-time favorite crime writer. If I have access to her books, I would like to re-read them again. I like Sherlock Holmes too. I love his recent screen incarnations (Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller). I love Jeffrey Archer although he doesn't really belong in this genre.
12. I love Wang Lee Hom and David Tao. An unabashed fangirl, I am. I don't like female singers. I don't know why. Female voices tend to get boring very quickly. According to the idea of six degrees of separation, I am 3 degrees away from Lee Hom. alas, those are but weak links.
13. I love the smell of new books. But I wouldn't wear it. What were they thinking? I feel like a fraud when I talk so much about books, but I've only read so few this year, or in total.
14. When I was younger, I used to finish all the books I ever started reading. I don't do that anymore, and although I feel guilty when I don't, I still don't. 
15. I am a top-notch procrastinator with super short memory span. I have met people who are worse at procrastinating, but I don't remember anyone who has fish memory like me. Mm probably I have met the person.
16. While I prefer to remain "emotionless", I am easily excitable. -_- If you wanna test it out, just mention Lee Hom or cats or Calvin and Hobbes (or anything in this list that began with "I love...") in a sentence. 
17. I rarely cry at movies, but I have shed tears watching my fav sitcoms. True story. 
18. I love jokes and I can appreciate good ones, but I suck at delivering them (remember Nemo's dad earlier attempts in telling the joke about the mollusk and sea cucumber? I'm like that.)
19. I love cats. Not all cats. Just the cute ones. Not a big fan of kittens. I sigh when I see pics of cute cats online. I think that a feline's silhouette is captivating. I don't have it in me to be a crazy cat lady thou.  
20. I love musicals. Okay, not all. My favorites so far is Puteri Gunung Ledang and Wicked.
21. I can be rather particular with kerning in design. I'm annoyed with designers who are not.
22. I love Melbourne! Had my best vacation there. I'll definitely be back. 
23. I love travelling. The wanderlust in a force strong in me. 
24. Friendster, Myspace, Multiply, Flickr, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Weibo, Tumblr, Blogger, Dropbox, Gtalk, Skype, Live Messenger, email accounts from Hotmail, Yahoo! and Gmail: I have them ALL ("had" for the first three items in this list). 
25. I love Google. 
26. Every morning when I open my Chrome browser, I simultaneously open these pages: Yahoo! mail, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader and Weibo. Then I close the Twitter tab after glancing at some tweets. The rest are open throughout the day.
27. I am very fond of the pi π symbol. If I could have a tattoo on me, this would be it.
28. I like chocolate with nuts or wafer. I like dark chocolate. I don't like white chocolate.
29. Milk in its liquid form makes me queasy. Even thinking about it makes me nauseous. So I thought I was lactose-intolerant. But I drink choc milk, and eats milk in other forms i.e. cheese and yoghurt. Go figure.
30. I love fish head noodle.
31. I don't like buffets. It makes me greedy and I will overeat and that's just bad. I think I'm much better at controlling myself these days. Still, I don't like the idea of paying to gorge on food. 
32. I love potatoes. In every edible form.
33. I am an insomniac.
34. When I'm not focused, I'm not. But on the very rare occasions when I am, I'm unstoppable.  

Yay! Done-doh! So.... happy birthday to me. Sometimes I can't stand me, but I'm generally okay in my own skin. I am writing in one of those moods, can you tell? Anyways, I hope the next 365 days will be good (generally), and I would continue to grow up emotionally, spiritually and mentally, and shrink physically.

My friend tried to get Lee Hom to wish me over weibo. Well, there's one in 24 million chance of that happening. Oh well, I'll make do with his song then. I've posted this song before, so here's just the MV (translation here). Have a good day on me, everyone! *MUAKS*

one birthday and two byes

this is super belated and the reason why i didn't do this earlier was because..... (1) i couldn't find a nice photo and then (2) i got lazy and also because (3) i didn't do it for the husband when it was his turn last month so it might be unfair... hehe! anyways...............

as for goodbyes, i just said it to the boss and will be saying it again to the kid under my tutelage. ah, the heart's heavy.

i've been under this boss for the past 3+ years i was here, and we've become really good friends. but nothing lasts forever, especially not in the corporate world, and i think that the new opportunity that she's getting will be good for her career. so we parted as colleagues, but will happily remain friends :) will definitely miss her around here. it's going to be really quiet with her and her booming, projecting voice gone! mm i do hope such right opportunity will come my way too hehe!

as for the kid, she will be leaving to the States soon (less than a month!). it's her parents' wish that she completes her high school and then further her education there (she was born there so she will be enjoying citizen privileges). but she's only 14! and to have to leave everyone she's ever known to that strange place is just too much for someone that age. sigh. the sacrifices one has to make for the unknown future. i'm worried for her and i'm sure the parents are sad too, but they have to put on a brave front lor. what's wrong with staying in malaysia anyway? pffbt. sigh, i'm going to miss her. she's a model student: bright, eager to learn, picks up fast, timely with homework, polite... it was my honour to be her teacher! T_T

birthday blast!

was going through the Draft folder and realised that this post hasn't seen the light of the day yet. strange. but a belated post is better than none at all! :) scheduling this post since i'll be travelling around this time. not sure if i'd have access to the internet or not.. 

this birthday boy a.k.a. uncle simon a.k.a. jazzy's dad sure knows how to throw a great party! :D srsly, it was FUN. food was yummy (i've since gone back a few times.. the menu's healthy and reasonably priced - best combo!).. the dad brought along a karaoke set so there were singing throughout the night. his vocal teacher was invited too, and he brought his guitar so there more singing. turned out that he is a dancer too.. and he got us on the floor and taught us basic salsa moves (i discovered my third left foot :( but it was all good :P)

oldies are goldies.. referring to both the song and the man :D

clockwise from top: thadd praying for the birthday boys, jazz and i belting out a couple tunes (we volunteered early to avoid being dragged onto the stage later), and the bday boys (bigger photo below)

clockwise from top left -- a must-have mushroom soup (yums!), balsamic based salad (yums!),  white wine (yums!) and roasted chicken (yums!).. the conclusion: YUMS. there were more food but i was too busy eating to be taking pics :P

uncle Simon's bff Arthur's bday was also around the corner, so it was kinda double celebration hehe..

top: uncle simon with his adorable kids ;) and (bottom) some friends

jazz flanked by her bffs ^.^

this final unrelated pic.. ah, my eyes will feast on this view in person... soon :)

二哥，生日快乐!

cute or not?! ^__^ i did this from scratch entirely on MS PowerPoint about a month or two ago, as submission to a wlh fan site [it was meant to be a collaborative birthday greeting: the site admin were compiling submissions in text, image or video formats and somehow get it to him.. i have no idea if he would even get to see it, but doing it was really fun!] at that time, being a new fan filled with much enthusiasm, i was the first to send an image submission.. and it made me feel totally silly haha.. esp when the next girl who submitted her piece was half my age. : \

a quick lowdown about this image: that's a dragon, btw, if it isn't obvious i.e. the year he was born in. i don't know how to do its feet so i hid it with cloud haha.. and i think the dragon is very the kawaii.. it was inspired by the Astro dragon, although they look nothing alike. grey+green+white is one of my fav colour combo. there are 36 squares (i tried with circles but they don't work here) to denote his age (as if the bright red number wasn't clear enough right). i like those parallel lines extending from those letters. it was one of the first few elements i thought of to have in the card.

turning our attention to the bday boy: it's a bit amazing to think that he's but two years older than me but the things that he's achieved leave me way more than just a little envious.. actually, he and his two brothers are just natural born overachievers.. all three are academic geniuses and musically gifted.. what was in their genes?! i wish i was their sister... but then i might be the black sheep of the family o_O .. back to the brothers, it's really heartwarming how close they are to each other; lh has *mentioned* before how he dotes on his lil brother ["我弟弟是受到我的宠爱最多。。。他生出来，我也觉得很神奇，我这么有能力去爱一个人。。" awww..], and how the bro cried for days when lh left home for college. awww..

btw 二哥 (second brother) is wlh's nickname on weibo.. he's had it since the movie Lust, Caution; there was a scene where Tang Wei, the female lead, spoke to him over the phone and addressed him as 二哥, to signal that it was time that the attack they had been planning get kicking into gear. irl, lh also happens to be the second boy in this family so the nick is somewhat apt. and my calling him that helps to keep my fangirlism in line haha..

on to the song. this is a cute ditty with a cute MV. ^_^ it's one of the two songs from his 改变自己 Change Me album [more accurately, it should be Change Myself i.e. 改变自己 translates to Change Myself; because Change Me is 改变我.. and the former is correct in context of what he was trying to convey with the album, i.e. change begins with me. i tell you, it's like he doesn't proofread the English text on his album -_- for a native English speaker, it shouldn't be too hard for him what.. there are some other examples of dubious translation, which i would point out another time ;) wah what was that ranting about! haha.. let's get back on track..] whose melodies sound like they came from a bygone era [the other being 落葉歸根 Falling Leaf Returns to Roots]. he wrote the music to both songs as he was going through that state of trying to come out of his Lust, Caution character, hence such melodies.

argh, it's 11:44 already. i wanna get this out before the clock strikes 12! and i need to sleep soon. in miri now for a company event tomorrow, cannot afford to oversleep :P onto the translation, shall we? :)


你是我心內的一首歌 心間開起花一朵
你是我生命的一首歌 想念匯成一條河
you are a song in my heart
if you open my heart, you'd find a flower has just bloomed
you are a song in my life
all my longing for you has converged into a river

惦在我心內的一首歌 不要只是個過客
在我生命留下一首歌 不論結局會如何
leave a song in my heart, don't just pass by
leave a song in my life, no matter how the ending would be like

好想問你 對我到底有沒有動心
沉默太久 只會讓我不小心 犯錯
i really want to ask you, if you have any feelings towards me?
if you keep quiet for too long, it would only lead my heart to commit a mistake


today's list of new words
惦 diàn - to think of / to remember / to miss
匯/汇 hui - remit / to converge (of rivers) / to exchange



你是我心內的一首歌
王力宏

你是我心內的一首歌 心間開起花一朵
你是我生命的一首歌 想念匯成一條河

惦在我心內的一首歌 不要只是個過客
在我生命留下一首歌(一首歌) 不論結局會如何

好想問你 對我到底有沒有動心
沉默太久 只會讓我不小心 犯錯

惦在我心內的一首歌 不要只是個過客
在我生命留下一首歌 不論結局會如何

Seeing the world from our sepet eyes..

Happpyy burrfffdayyy, Jazzayyy!! Or is that Jas? Jaz? Jazz? Jazzy? Jasmine? Honestly, it bothers me that I am never consistent, but you, my friend, are one and the same. 獨一無二!

And on this special day, let me bedazzle you with this rhetorical piece:

Oh how do I love thee, jazzyching, let me count the ways...

I love thee for daily saying "hellooo" in the morning, "burrps" after lunch, "sleepy.." at tea, and "byeee!" at six and striking up every other chat topic imaginable in between;

I love thee for unabashedly sharing your thoughts and questions and aspirations and doubts and inanities, and for listening to mine;

I love thee for sitting with me when my shyness unsettles me (at church, at merv's bday dinner, and that dinner before we watched the hunger games, and other times that might have slipped my mind);

I love thee for thinking I have decent taste (and got me to go curtain & couch shopping);

I love thee for saying orange even though you think it is yellow (but c'mon, who are we kidding? it's orange! sigh, my mom has told me to stop being so contentious..);

I love thee for extending the generosity of your family [dad (food & show) and bro (bachelor pad & food) and uncle and aunty (more food =D i see a trend here!)];

I love thee for the meals enjoyed with each other and/or other people;

I love thee for your silliness which rivals (but regrettably doesn't top) mine.

Happy 2nd anniversary of your 30th birthday, babe! xoxoxoxo

Friends that stay in denial together will not realize that they have grown old together.
Me
It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

stranger on a bus

our paths crossed again just two days ago.. for a stranger, i've seen him more times than i can remember. he hasn't changed much over the years since i first saw him, when he alighted the Sri Jaya #13 bus from Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka that took us to town centre. that petite frame, that bushy silver beard, the simple get-up, a nondescript tote, you know it's him. i was probably 13 or 14 then, and he was 57, and in a week's time, he will be 77. still as feisty as ever.

i think this was the poem that got him into trouble during the Bersih 2.0 rally -- it obviously did not go down well with the authority (no matter what i think they should have accorded him with more respect). alas, my BM is super rusty so many of those lines went over my head. oh he got on facebook not long after B2.0 (here). Go Like his page if you want a dose of BM puisi now and again to remind you how inadequate your grasp of the language is haha.. or if you truly can enjoy Malay poetry, my hat's off to you.

so anyways, it was on Sunday at the Petronas Philharmonic Hall that i saw the familiar figure making his down the aisle to get to his seat. Pak Samad!, i called out to him in my head, hi sir, you are.. erm.. could I err.. have your autograph? #fail

here's an early happy birthday wish to you, sir: may your mind continue to be as clear as a blue sky day, may your words continue to clearly echo the spirit of the nation, may you live a long good life!

Dunia kita sekarang rata,
Thomas L. Friedman yang kata.
Di Malaysia lain congaknya:
Undi luar nak disula,
undi dalam silap mata.
A. Samad Said, Sasterawan Nusantara

20.11.2011

It's an auspicious day to be 33 [LOL!] so happy birthday to me.. ^_^

May I find what I I'm looking for, whatever it is.

Thank you God for your love and blessings and mercy and grace that overflows in my life.

Thirty one.

Still can't wrap my head around the idea that she was in her twenties -- let alone 30s! If there's a moment worth freezing, it would be now. I'm sure no one really get a good grasp of life as it goes on its merry way.. Mm this post is digressing haha..

What I really wanna say is HAPPYBIRTHDAYSISSSSLOVEYOUHUGSSS!!! Moga bertemu jejaka idaman soon, someone worthy of you ;) Awww.. and oh, FOREVER18 [in my eyes]!!

happy birthday husby! ^_^

strangely, chongy was the one who first called him husby, as in when she was referring to him, and not when addressing him. but of course. hehehe.. i thought it's quite a cute mistake, and took to adopting the term, alternating between the usual hubby and husby.


anyways, it's his birthday today. and i was away at Miri for 23 hours of this day. did not manage to catch an earlier flight home (it was full) and ended up home only at 11pm. urgh. maybe we'll celeb this weekend. somehow we have never been that big on bday celebs so it's no biggie. this time is the same, BUT i'm kinda excited cos i know what i'm getting him ^_^ (well not really cos he hasn't really decided on the exact model, but yeah i'm totally  stoked at the idea of giving him something he really could use! =)(gift buying is frustrating, and i've stopped with the men's shirts and ties and wallets a long time ago)

anywaysss, we spent the last hour of the day out at a nearby cafe having a late supper which means bad news for the waist and probably mean that i will be in VERY LATE to work tomorrow, but who cares? it's the husby's bday! hahaha... and we are here at the cafe, typing away on our own laptops. hahahahaha.. some world we live in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUSBY! XOXO!

in line with (y)our current obsession, this song's for you :) 

:: life love and why ::

may you find what you have been looking for.

here's to many more years of 

friendship and conversations and love and laughter.

blessed birthday, babe! ;)

i have a lot of pics i haven't uploaded.. and by the time i get to them, i suppose i would be too lazy to blog about them. bleh. anyways, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! :) i've had a good one.. hopefully you'll see why when i do get about blogging about it. hahaha..

two things first.

thanks to the darling hubs and my sibs, i'm now an iPhone 4 owner!! :D iWas pleasantly delirious when iFound out that iWould be getting a new phone for Christmas.. srsly stoked. been trying to navigate my way around the phone, and frankly Steve Jobs, iAm STILL not impressed. and why on earth isn't Google Sky Map available for iPhone?? and to be labeled a conformist by my friend (singular) -- oh the travesty. iKnow iShould stop complaining by now & start counting my blessings.. fail.

anyways, i don't know how i even deserve this, but thank you.. ;)
*bear hugs for everyone*






and the second thing.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY 

SHERYL CHONG!!!!!
[[]]

soundtrack for the moment --

sick puppies :: that time of year

i probably have said this more than enough times but i'm happy that you could look back to this year and declare it GOOD :) here's to many more :) *HUGS*

(checklist -- so i've tweeted, FB, called, emailed & now blogged my bday wishes 4u. just two more places :D.. to be unveiled before the year ends i hope..!)

oh i erm, still haven't wrapped your gift. :P but see you soon! (this Friday probably, if i could make it :)